It was no surprise to followers of high school girls basketball when the North Senior All-Stars rolled to a 104-64 win over the South on Saturday in the annual Georgia Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Showcase at Armstrong Atlantic State University’s Alumni Center.

Last year as juniors, the North had put a 125-63 hurting on the South juniors.

“I still have the score of that game on my phone,” said North coach Hazel Hall of Flowery Branch. “It was an unbelievable group of kids.

“This year’s senior class is the best group of senior talent ever produced in the state of Georgia. If there’s a better one, I can’t remember. And, we didn’t have three girls who were McDonald’s All-Americans. They can only play in two all-star games, and they chose to pass up this one.”

Hall said her most difficult decision was picking a starting lineup.

“I could have started any five,” Hall said. “They made my job easy.”

The North All-Stars had five players in double figures, and every player in the lineup scored.

Khadijia Cave, a 6-foot-3 senior who played at Laney and has signed with No. 1 and defending national champion Baylor, scored 15 to pace the South attack. She was supported by Calvary Day School standout Alexus Parker, who had 13 points. Parker has signed with Prairie View A&M.

Parker, however, along with Savannah players Ollie Steadman (Beach) and Ty Reynolds (Windsor Forest) showed they deserved selectios to the All-Star squad.

“We lost by a good margin, but it was still a great experience,” Parker said. “I’ve seen these girls in AAU ball, and I played in last year’s game when they beat us pretty good.

“I felt I did pretty good,” Parker said. “I played my role and did what I had to do. It was all fun.”

Steadman scored nine points, and Reynolds added seven for the South team, which trailed 47-27 at the half and never got closer than 18 in the second half.

The North hit the century mark with 58 seconds to play when Marissa Ivey hit a 3-pointer for her only points of the game.

Steadman, one of three players in the game who have yet to sign to play college basketball, said she was not intimidated by her high-powered opponents.

“I saw it as an opportunity to play against good people,” Steadman said. “I was excited about playing and felt Coach (Ron) Booker had me prepared for competition like this.

“I wanted to show everyone I belonged. I was playing for Beach, Coach Booker, my teammates, and my family. I feel like I played well.”

There were several college coaches in attendance and while Steadman was hopeful she may have caught someone’s eye, she said she was currently looking at attending Middle Georgia College.

In the first game of the day the North juniors rallied from a 40-37 halftime deficit to post an 84-79 win.

Southeast Bulloch coach Johnnie Miller coached the South team, and saw his group jump out to quick 5-0 lead. However, the North then scored 20 straight points, and just like that the game was literally over.

“We had too many lapses on defense,” Miller said. “We couldn’t apply defensive pressure, and we couldn’t contain 23 (Spencer). All of them can shoot.

“The refs let them play — that’s not why we lost — and they were too physical,” Miller said. “We couldn’t put it in the basket for a 10-minute stretch, and their guard play was significant.”